Chapter 1
I was born in Ota, Ogun State, but my roots are in Ihima, one of the most prominent towns in Ebiraland, Kogi State.
As a child, I often sat quietly while my father and his friends shared fascinating stories about our history. Some sounded unbelievable, yet they were told with such conviction that they have stayed with me ever since.
Here is one of those stories.
Long ago, around the 16th century, the people of Ihima were renowned for blacksmithing, farming, hunting, weaving Aso Oke, and trading. They lived in peace because they believed a powerful deity known as Ori-Hima—meaning the Deity of Ihima—watched over and protected the town. To the people, Ori-Hima was more than a deity; it was their guardian.
One story says that when a mother had no one to care for her baby while she went to the market, she would leave the child on the mountain of Ori-Hima, asking the deity to watch over the baby. No matter how long she stayed away, she would return to find the child safe and smiling.
Another remarkable tale says that if a hen was taken to Ori-Hima, it would lay eggs there, hatch them, and every chick would emerge white. Even more astonishing, people believed no eagle would dare swoop down to take them.
Then, during the colonial era, something happened that changed everything...
That story will be told in Part 2.
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